Tie down clip



March 1970 LE ROY N. 'VANDALL 3, 4

TIE DOWN CLIP Filed April 10, 1968 FIG.2

INVENTOR LEROY N. VAN'DALL BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 52489 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tie down clip for horizontal panels is provided with a pair of tabs to engage adjacent panels and with a notched recess to engage the transverse supports for the panels in the form of beams to prevent the panels from being displaced by wind or other means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the construction of cast concrete buildings, it is quite usual to build a framework of a vertical nature to support a deck slab for the floor of a building. In the past the underside of the slabs have been supported for concrete pouring by plywood panels which are laid upon support means, such as framing or beams or other types of shoring in the form of framed decking. These plywood panels may be easily dislodged by wind or other means and can under certain circumstances be so dislodged as to be blown off the decking level and drop to the ground which is an extremely hazardous situation. It has become necessary, therefore, to provide some means for holding down the horizontal panels and this has taken the form of rather bulky and awkward constructions of members which protruded up into the surface above the plywood panels a considerable distance and then have to be tied in some fashion by a bracing structure from underneath. In todays construction practice it is quite common to have a finished ceiling on the underside of the slab and any depressions of a considerable nature detract from the appearance of the underside of the slab and require patching and excessive work on the part of the concrete finishers so as to prevent a suitable surface for the application of other finishing materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention obviates the above disadvantages by providing a sheet metal type of clip which is readily fastened to the edge of plywood panels and has a pair of lip or tab portions that protrude in opposite directions so as to engage the upper surfaces of plywood panels that are in adjacent relationship with a downwardly directed portion of the clip to extend between the panels and provided with a stepped notch or recess arrangement such that a number of thicknesses of supporting beams and members may be accommodated in the notch of one clip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view partly broken away showing a supporting beam, panels thereon and the clip of this invention as it is positioned with relation to the supporting beam and panels;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on a larger scale showing two panels with their edges adjacent and with a locking clip between them and locking both panel edges to a supporting beam;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the locking clips.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Vertical posts support horizotnal beams 10, the type shown in US. Patent 2,974,762 being illustrated, with reinforcing 11 which in turn support panels 12 and 13 which may be formed of plywood as a usual form or some equivalent. These plywood panels have the concrete slag cast thereon and serve as temporary supports for such slab.

As pointed out above, it is necessary to secure these panels against being blown oif or dislodged which is accomplished by a clip designated generally 15 and shown in perspective in FIG. 3. This clip 15 has a body portion 16 of relatively thin sheet stock with tabs or lips 17 and 18 bent in opposite direction from the upper edge of this body so as to extend in substantailly right angles thereto. These tabs or lips will rest upon the upper surface of the panel 12 and is adjacent panel 13 while the body 16 extends between the adjacent edges of the adjacent panels 12 and 13.

One or more notches 20, 21 are formed in the edge or edges of the body to receive a supporting beam. The upper edge 22 or 22' of such notch is substantially the distance from the upper edge 19 of the body of the thickness of the panel while the opposite edge of the notch will be substantially the thickness of the supporting member 10 which is to be received in the notch, Thus the edges 23, 23' of the notches 20, 21 may be of such distance from the edge 22 of the notch. In order to provide for the reception of various configured supporting beams such as 10, the notch or recess 20 may be formed in a step formation thus providing an edge 24 at a greater distance from the edge 22 of the notch or providing an edge 25 having a greater distance yet from the edge 22 for the reception of supporting beams of even greater thickness. A hole 27 is provided in the upper portion of the body 16 so that this clip may be nailed to the edge .30 of panel 12 by nail 28. The dimension of notch 21 is arranged to accept a further beam size. As shown in FIG. 3, there are four beams that may be accommodated. For illustrative purposes in FIG. 1, the flange 26 of beam 10 is secured between edges 22 and 24.

In the use of this clip after a supporting beam 10 has the panel 12 placed thereon, the clip may have its lip or tab 18 positioned to overlie the edge of the panel 12 such as shown in FIG. 1, while a supporting portion extends vertically down along the edge 30 and receives the flange 26 of the supporting beam 10 in the notch 20 in one of the steps thereof so that the lower edge of the beam is closely adjacent one of the edges 23, 24 or 25. When in this position a small nail 28 may be utilized for insertion through the hole 27 and driven into the edge 30 of the panel 12. Then the second panel 13 may be positioned beneath the tab or lip 17 which will lock this edge of that panel in place and sequentially the opposite edge of the panel 13 may be similarly positioned or locked in place as just described 'and so on until all panels are locked by such clips.

I claim:

1. A building structure for casting concrete comprising panel supporting beams, panels supported on the upper surfaces of said beams in generally edge to edge adjacent relation for receiving concrete on their upper surface, a locking clip for said panels of relatively thin 3 heet-like form with a body portion extending between tdjacent panels and having oppositely extending tabs rverlapping the upper surfaces of adjacent panels, means 0 secure the body portion to the edge of one of the aanels, said body portion being recessed from one edge hereof with said recess having a stepped edge receiving l supporting beam located in said recess on one of said ,tepped edges whereby said panel is locked to said beam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 2,118,243 5/1938 Venzie 52-359 2,389,964 11/1945 Eckel 52-715 X 2,848,758 8/1958 Chisholm 52-439 X HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner PRICE C. FAW, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

